Up to now, although ocean freight rates have begun to decline significantly, the overall price has remained relatively high. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, ocean freight has been on a frantically rising trend. The freight for a 40-foot container in China and the United States once exceeded US$20,000, which made most shippers express helplessness. In the face of high ocean freight, everyone is also trying to control it. As it continues to skyrocket, the U.S. government has reviewed various surcharges charged by major shipping companies. Recently, well-known shipping companies, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd have also begun to suspend the increase in spot freight rates, all of which are done to ease the increase. Measures to increase freight pressure. So what are the current factors that affect the fluctuation of ocean freight? Will there be a surge in ocean freight this year? How to deal with the soaring ocean freight?

What is the reason for the skyrocketing ocean freight?

1.       Port congestion

Port operations under the epidemic are inefficient. In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, the ports have basically strengthened prevention and control measures. As a result, the efficiency of the port has been greatly reduced. Many container ships are waiting for berths. The most severely congested are the domestic ports of Shanghai and Ningbo, and the foreign ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The congestion of these ports has caused more restrictive factors.

2.       Long schedule

Due to port congestion, a large number of ships could not be obtained and unloaded, and they were stuck in the port waiting for berths. As a result, the original sailing schedule was lengthened. Data shows that the previous month’s sailing schedule has now taken a month or even several months. . The prolonged shipping schedule has resulted in a large number of containers that cannot be processed in time, and empty containers cannot be returned in time.

3.       Shortage of containers

Due to the large number of ships carrying containers waiting to be berthed, coupled with the large amount of capacity waiting, the rate of container circulation in the market has slowed down. In some importing countries, there are a large number of containers in the ports, and the accumulation has also made the port congestion more serious. In some exporting countries, there is a serious shortage of containers.

4.       Additional fee

In the context of port congestion, longer shipping schedules, and shortage of container spaces, both the cargo owner, freight forwarder and the ship owner are trying to insure themselves. In order to ensure that their profits are not harmed, the ship owner has increased by levying and increasing surcharges. Its own income, which includes port charges, demurrage charges, congestion surcharges, etc., has made the already high ocean freight aggravated.

Will ocean freight still skyrocket?

From the current point of view, Ocean freight has begun to drop significantly. It cannot be said that it will drop to the price before the epidemic in the short term, but to a large extent there will not be a sharp increase. At present, except for shipping companies, cargo owners and freight forwarders are working hard. , Some local governments have also begun to regulate. Of course, if you want a substantial drop in ocean freight, then you still need to get the day when the epidemic is completely controlled.

Key words: ocean freight, port congestion, shortage of containers, epidemic